


seeing stars

by venusbot



Series: tsukkiyama week 2019! [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Flowers, Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, Stargazing, meteor showers, more space references bc i'm a loser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-20 08:09:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19988884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venusbot/pseuds/venusbot
Summary: This had been a pain in the ass to deal with, recently: something about being next to Tsukki made the flowers on Tadashi’s face go entirely crazy. Tsukki could already read his every emotion without even trying; it didn’t help that the blooms made it even more obvious. Even the smallest interaction would set off a small line of flowers that grew where freckles would normally be, dotting his cheeks with lines of red and pink. And Tadashi absolutely hated it.[in which tadashi has flowers that grow on his face, the perseids are coming up, and tsukki is a lot smarter than people give him credit for]





	seeing stars

**Author's Note:**

> tsukkiyama week day three: stargazing/fantasy! 
> 
> this is probably my favourite prompt so far because my entire personality is literally space references and vague descriptions of magic & flowers

Tadashi bit the back of his pencil in frustration, spluttering when he almost choked on the eraser. He didn’t understand anything he was reading - the words made sense on paper, but jumbled together into an incoherent mess when they entered his head. Physics was hard enough on a  _ good  _ day; he didn’t know why he thought studying it while tired was a good idea. 

Setting the pencil down and letting out a huff, Tadashi closed his book. He glared down at it aggressively, as if his eyes were enough to get it to stop being so goddamn  _ confusing.  _ It was rare that he got as annoyed as this over something so small, but it had been a long day and he was exhausted and teenage hormones were a pain. Still scowling, he looked up and at the boy sitting across from him, hoping to find something else that would take his mind off of things. 

His distraction was currently intently finishing math homework, lips twisted into his own scowl - but this one was borne out of concentration, not irritation. For some reason (one that Tadashi knew, but was still unwilling to admit), looking at Tsukki’s frown and nose scrunch at the harder questions made something in the bottom of Tadashi’s stomach settle. His gaze softened, and before he knew it, he could already feel the telltale pricks threatening to pop out of his cheeks. 

This had been a pain in the ass to deal with, recently: something about being next to Tsukki made the flowers on Tadashi’s face go entirely crazy. Tsukki could already read his every emotion without even trying; it didn’t help that the blooms made it even more obvious. Even the smallest interaction would set off a small line of flowers that grew where freckles would normally be, dotting his cheeks with lines of red and pink. And Tadashi absolutely hated it. 

He wished he had any semblance of control over the flowers; but sadly, he was destined to a life of having all his feelings spread out on his cheeks for the entire world to see. The most he could do was hold his breath and wish really hard for the flowers to calm themselves and stay inside his mouth or wherever the hell they came from - which achieved nothing at all, but at least left him with the feeling that he’d  _ tried  _ to do something. 

Luckily for him, though, Tsukki hadn’t commented on the distinct rise in the number of buds on his face recently. (Yet.) Either he hadn’t noticed, or hadn’t found the topic interesting enough to discuss; knowing him, probably the latter. And thank his stars for that, because Tadashi didn’t know what the hell he would do if the other boy decided to confront him about the rainbow hues spread across his cheeks 80% of the time that they were together. 

For now, however, the flowers broke through his skin and felt the air, tickling his cheeks as they grew. Tadashi winced, hoping that Tsukki wouldn’t notice - which seemed unlikely anyway, seeing as he was still completely engrossed in his homework. Tadashi knew he should probably be finishing his, too, but his brain was not cooperating with him right then. He could always complete it in school. 

After a few more minutes of quiet and the occasional satisfied grunt that came from Tsukki when he’d finished a particularly tough question, the taller boy abruptly shut his book and looked straight at Tadashi. “You should get some sleep.”

Flustered by the sudden attention, he fumbled for a second before replying with, “I will.” He could feel more petals unfurling on his face the longer that Tsukki stayed looking at him, and he wished he could scratch them off his face and throw them far, far away. 

Tsukki looked content with his answer, however, and seemed to pay the flowers no heed. He glanced at the clock, once, and started packing up his belongings into his bag. They’d been studying at Tadashi’s house that night, and it was nearing 10:00 pm - much later than Tsukki usually stayed, but practice had ended up being longer than expected (it didn’t help that their assignments were harder than usual, too). With a quick goodbye to both Tadashi and his mother, who was sitting in the living room, he left. 

Later that night, when Tadashi was scrubbing away at the flowers on his face in the safety of his bathroom, he had to try extra hard to ignore the ache in his chest.   
  


✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  ❀  *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧   
  


The next day, when Tadashi was hurriedly finishing his own math homework in between classes and cursing under his breath, Tsukki suddenly slid off his headphones and turned towards the other boy. 

“The Perseids are coming soon,” 

Tadashi blinked up at him, brain still too stuck on geometry to immediately recognise the name. When it finally clicked, his eyes lit up as he responded, “Oh, when!” 

“This Friday.” 

At the beginning of the year, Tadashi had somehow managed to get Tsukki to create a list of New Year’s resolutions alongside him. The blonde had eventually conceded, but wouldn’t tell Tadashi any of his resolutions except one - that he was going to see every single meteor shower that occurred throughout the year. And of course, Tadashi was more than willing to accompany him. He knew how important the meteors were to Tsukki, so he tried to remember where they would fall on the calendar, but recently he’d been so busy that it had slipped his mind; which is why he was so surprised by Tsukki’s sudden announcement. Surprised - but excited. 

“Okay, Tsukki!” replied Tadashi, enthusiastically. “We’re going to the same spot as last time, right?” 

Miyagi wasn’t an especially loud and metropolitan city, but stargazing still required the quiet skies that only the countryside could give them. Luckily, there was a spot not more than an hour from the city that led to an open meadow which was a popular place for other stargazers, and they’d been going there for the last three meteor showers that occurred. There were always a lot of people there, yeah, but everyone was usually too preoccupied with the sky for it to even matter. 

For some reason, Tsukki hesitated for a moment before replying. “No,” he said, carefully. “I have a different plan for this time. We’ll leave from my house.”

Tadashi’s eyes widened at that, but he took into stride. He wondered what Tsukki was planning - knowing him, probably something amazing that would make his face look like he just jumped headfirst into a florist’s basket. ( _ Anything _ that Tsukki did would make his face look like that.) Out loud, he said, “Okay, Tsukki!” 

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” came the expected response. 

The blonde’s face was still as unreadable as ever, but Tadashi could tell that there was something else he wanted to say. Before he got the chance to voice it, though, the teacher walked into the class.   
  


✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ❀ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧   
  


It wasn’t too long before Friday rolled around - not that Tadashi had been counting down the days, or anything. The day passed by slower than most, lessons dragging on, seemingly never-ending (or maybe that was just his restlessness speaking). He’d been like that all week; waiting for Friday evening like the light at the end of the tunnel. 

And as all things do, it did come around: leaving us with an extremely anxious Tadashi fretting over all the things he needed for their trip. 

For the past meteor showers they saw together, Tadashi had been in charge of getting the blankets and food and all that, while Tsukki came armed with a telescope and astronomy books to keep them occupied. If it was any other stargazing occasion, Tadashi would’ve simply carried what he usually did and not given it a second thought; but this was  _ special. _ This time, Tsukki was taking them somewhere  _ new _ , and he was keeping it a  _ secret _ , and he didn’t know what they would need and if he’d just end up making a fool of himself and oh my  _ god  _ he really didn’t know what to do.

Flowers prickled through his skin, the sensation as unpleasant as he felt - none of the soft tingles that he got when he was around Tsukki. He was frustrated enough without the petals tickling him constantly, and he scrubbed angrily at his cheeks before taking a deep breath. 

The rational part of his brain was trying to talk to him: It was just Tsukki. Nothing to worry about, right? It didn’t matter whatever the hell was going on with his feelings at the moment, Tsukki was Tsukki was his best friend, and he didn’t have to worry so much over something like this. Everything would go smoothly and properly and  _ perfectly _ , just like it had all this while.

(Maybe they’d end up curled against each other, like the night of the Lyrids, waking up with Tsukki’s hair in his mouth and breath against his ear and a face full of bright red flowers. Maybe they’d wind up discussing anything and everything under the sun while waiting for a single meteor to show up, and dejectedly try to distract themselves when they ended up seeing nothing, like with the Quadrantids. Maybe they’d just look up at the inked sky in quiet awe, words threatening to spill out of their mouth, but both being too scared to ruin the sacred silence that the night brought - just like the Aquarids. Maybe Tadashi would fall even harder, just like he did every single day.) 

Feeling somewhat better after his internal monologue, but with a tightness in his stomach that he didn’t want to put a name to, Tadashi grabbed a star-patterned blanket from the closet and headed downstairs without any further deliberation. The clock told him it was 11:02 pm, which was two minutes past the time he was supposed to be at Tsukki’s - he dropped by the kitchen to say goodbye to his mom and rushed out the door before he got any later than he already was. 

❀

The walk to Tsukki’s house was short, and when he got there, he found Tsukki already standing outside with his brother in tow. Tadashi instantly brightened up at the sight, feeling bigger petals bloom against his face and excitedly greeting Akiteru. He didn’t know that he was back in town! 

Akiteru laughed, ruffling Tadashi’s hair, and replied, “Nice seeing you again kid,” He glanced over at Tsukki, who hadn’t said anything at all so far. “Besides, I just came over for the weekend because  _ someone _ needed my help,” he added, laughing again when his brother scowled up at him. 

Tadashi just smiled again, nervously, unsure what they were talking about and unwilling to ask. Luckily for him, the awkwardness didn’t last long - Tsukki looked at him and said, “Come on,” while gesturing towards the car. 

The two scrambled into the back seat, leaving Akiteru to drive them to wherever they were going. Tsukki was carrying a heavy-looking backpack, different from what he’d normally bring along, the contents of which he refused to disclose. It was usually one of their parents who dropped them - the distance was too long to walk or bike towards - so it was strange that Akiteru came all the way just to help out with a stargazing trip; but Tadashi wasn’t complaining. He loved having the older boy around. 

The ride to their destination passed uneventfully; Miyagi’s roads at night held a quiet that was almost tangible. Tadashi was  _ so  _ close to rolling the window all the way down and sticking his head outside, taking in the fresh air and wagging his tongue like a dog. He somehow managed to restrain himself; but the flowers on his face grew again - softer, lighter petals that seemed to kiss his cheeks. 

❀

When Tsukki told him they’d reached, Tadashi looked around, confused. They’d stopped by the suburbs of the city, just shy of the countryside - there was nothing here except old, abandoned buildings and warehouses. 

Getting out of the car, blanket in his hand and trailing after him, he opened his mouth to ask what they what they were doing there, but Tsukki interrupted him before he could say anything. “You’ll see.” 

Akiteru left, then, telling the two to call him when they were done with their meteor shower because he “sure as hell wasn’t going to hang around a bunch of teenagers geeking out over space rocks”. Tsukki stuck his tongue out at his brother as he left, a rare display of childishness that made Tadashi laugh and his cheeks bloomed with a flower he couldn’t identify. 

As they made their way to one of the empty buildings - what the  _ fuck  _ was Tsukki planning - Tadashi realised that the other boy was now carrying two bags. Curiosity pinched at his tongue, but he didn’t say nor ask anything. He instead focused on climbing the rickety and highly dangerous spiral staircase that was inside the building, leading up to what Tadashi assumed was a rooftop. 

The gasp that left his mouth when they reached the top was loud enough to wake up the entire town. 

Spread out below him, as if an artist had used their most careful brushstrokes to craft a masterpiece, was the entire cityscape of Miyagi. The town looked so much more different than he could ever have imagined - its twinkling street lights looked like fallen stars against the darkness of the unlit houses, and the white headlamps of cars were streaking comets that lit up the otherwise sleeping city with their brightness. There was gold and silver and neon that burst out from wherever it was least expected and it wrapped his hometown in  _ magic _ . 

After getting over his initial shock at the gorgeous view, Tadashi realised that the rooftop they were standing on was actually a lot huger than he had expected it to be. He spread out the blanket he’d carried with him across the floor, and finally noticed Tsukki looking at him from the corner of his eye. 

The other boy gave the impression that he was deep in thought about something, and he was looking at Tadashi like he had the answer to all his questions. His flowers blushed under the blonde’s gaze, curling into themselves and probably turning an embarrassing shade of red. Damn it. 

Tsukki didn’t appear to care, though; he simply took out the telescope from one of the bags and started setting it up by the blanket that Tadashi had laid out. With a start, he realised that Tsukki had spoken approximately four words to him ever since he went to his house - and even though there was nothing wrong with that, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d done something wrong. 

_ Stupid teenage hormones,  _ he thought to himself, as he watched Tsukki adjust the mounting and measure the gauge for his telescope. He worked quietly, as he did most things, and Tadashi could see the concentration on his face as he mentally worked out the placements of the Tropics and which degree to set the lens to. Even with his glasses, Tsukki’s eyes looked beautiful. ( _ Stupid, stupid.) _

Since he had nothing to do except stare at his best friend and embarrass himself further, Tadashi found himself wandering back to the edge of the roof to admire the view again. He leaned his arms against the rusty railing, looking out into the night. The petals on his face fluttered against his skin in the cool wind, and he closed his eyes, letting the feeling wash over him. He wondered what it was like; to be someone who didn’t have bright signs on his face telling the rest of the world what exactly he was feeling at any given moment. Wondered where the flowers came from, where they went, and why. Wondered why he had to develop feelings for the one person who could read him better than anyone, with or without flowers. He probably would have gone on wondering and wondering had said person not come and stood next to him. 

“Should be starting anytime soon,” 

“Okay.” 

The two of them stood there, not saying anything, wrapped up in the blanket that was the night. Tadashi felt like there was something on his tongue itching to get out, something he needed to say immediately - but before he could, the first streak of light flew across the sky in a flash before his eyes.

He could almost hear Tsukki smile. 

Tadashi pushed himself off the railing, then, turning around to head back to the blanket he’d laid out - only to gasp loudly for the second time that night. 

There were small, colourful lanterns lining the sheet on the floor, flickering candles placed inside them. Even in the dark, he could make out plates of food lying there - and was that a packet of french fries that he saw? There were a few books set aside, too; probably constellation maps and the like, but the entirety of Tadashi’s attention was taken up by the singular flower lying in the middle of it all. 

He didn’t recognise it \- his flower knowledge wasn’t something that people usually praised him for - but it looked soft, purple, and he knew he’d seen it somewhere before. Speechless, Tadashi turned to look back at Tsukki, who had also turned around and was looking at the other with  _ something _ on his face. Something that made the flowers on his face bloom even louder, the petals unfurling into something that brushed his cheeks even if he didn’t move. (If he didn’t know better, he’d say that they were the same flower that was lying in front of him at that moment.)

Struggling to form coherent sentences, Tadashi eventually managed to say a soft, “Thank you.” Internally, the feral voice in his head was going  _ IT’S A DATE IT’S A DATE IT’S A DATE IT’S A DATE _ , but he sternly told it to shut the fuck up. 

Tsukki nodded, oddly quiet - he’d normally have said something in response to that, even if it was a simple “Shut up, Yamaguchi.” His silence was making Tadashi nervous, and he wanted to ask if everything was alright, but his mouth stayed shut. 

The taller boy sat himself down on the blanket unceremoniously, and Tadashi quickly followed suit. Without a word (once again), Tsukki handed him the fries. He grinned when he realised that they were completely soggy and oily, every single one of them - just as he preferred. Biting down his smile and biting on the fries instead, Tadashi thought to himself,  _ I could get used to this.  _

He didn’t have a chance to think any more thoughts, however, because another meteor streaked past them just then. This one was lighter, and its colour bleaker, but it was mesmerising all the same. Tadashi wondered if Tsukki was making any wishes, because he sure was.

Far away from the city lights, Tadashi could finally see all the stars which decorated the night sky with their twinkling jewelry. He’d memorised some basic constellations when Tsukki had his astronomy phase - not that he was over that phase now - and he looked for them now, squinting in the dark. 

T he bear who lost himself in the forest, only to be rescued by a hunter with a magic belt. The girl who was chained to the side of a cliff, left to pay the price of her mother’s vanity. The birds who answered every beck and call, but at an expense. The crab and the swan and the nine-headed hydra. He saw them all, guarding the sky from their solitary posts, and he was so lost in finding the others he knew that he only barely realised that Tsukki was saying something. 

“It’s wisteria,” came his quiet voice. 

Tadashi turned to look at the blonde, only to find that he was already looking at him. He could feel more petals unfurling themselves under the other’s gaze, but he tried to ignore them. 

“Huh?” he said, intelligently. 

There was a hint of a smile gracing Tsukki’s face. He delicately picked up the flower that had been lying between them, and held it out for Tadashi to take. “Wisteria.” 

Not for the first time that night, Tadashi was stunned speechless.  _ How many more surprises did Tsukki have in store for him?  _

Once again ignoring the feral voice in his head, he said, “Thank you, Tsukki.” He kept the flower in his pocket and pretended that the ones on his face hadn’t exploded into a riot of colour. 

(There was something in between them, then - something that ran deeper than anything Tadashi could have imagined. He  _ knew  _ it wasn’t his wishful thinking when he saw the bated breath with which Tsukki watched his reactions; the carefulness and precision with which he had planned the nighttime picnic; the hesitance in his voice when he announced the name of the flower. He wasn’t stupid. But he wasn’t going to open his mouth either, because he didn’t want to ruin whatever it was that was happening.)

The next sky projectile came as a bit of a surprise for him - an almost fiery ball of light that seemed to explode in the sky, like a space firework. It stayed there longer than the other two had, and Tadashi could only watch in awe as carnations bloomed against his cheekbones. 

No one said anything for a while, after that, instead choosing to silently admire the streaks of colour and light left behind by forgotten comets. The Perseids were known for their fireballs; Tadashi had learned in his few quick minutes of research, and there were quite a few of those exploding against the night sky. It felt like there was too much for him to take up in just one glance, like he was too small to truly take in the beauty of what was going on above them. 

❀

At one point, when the meteors stopped falling for a while, Tsukki moved the telescope to where they were sitting. Meteor showers rarely required a telescope; but astronomers had predicted that Saturn would look especially beautiful that night - and so they had brought it along. Tadashi held his breath as he looked through the lens and at the rings that surrounded the planet, but it was hard to concentrate when Tsukki was breathing right next to his ear. 

When they moved away, Tadashi’s face lighting up with his signature flowers once again, he could have  _ sworn  _ that he spotted a blush on Tsukki’s cheeks. It was hard to make out in the darkness, but he could see the taller boy bite his lip - a rare display of nervousness that didn’t go unnoticed by Tadashi. He wondered what he was planning this time. 

❀

It was nearing 1:00 am when Tsukki finally spoke up again. 

This was the peak hour for the meteors, and there was one crossing the sky almost every five minutes - it was so different from the other showers they had seen, where sometimes they had to squint to figure out if there was anything passing, that Tadashi was content to simply sit and enjoy the show. 

Which is why he started when Tsukki asked him, “Did you wish for anything?” 

He could feel flowers breaking through his skin again, and Tadashi wanted nothing more than to jump off the roof right then. He pointedly avoided the other boy’s gaze, not wanting them to bloom any further. Attempting to school his expression so it didn’t betray how flustered he was at the question - even though the flowers already did a good job of that - he replied, “Yeah.” 

“Me too.” 

For some reason, the tone of his voice made Tadashi turn and look at the blonde sitting right next to him. Tsukki’s neck was craned upwards, staring at the sky, glasses glinting in the moonlight. His hair fluttered against his skin softly in the wind, and his eyes were closed. There was something so fragile, so  _ open _ , about him in that moment that Tadashi didn’t know how he managed to restrain himself from kissing him right then and there. 

“Hey, Tsukki.”

The boy in question looked away from the stars and at Tadashi instead. “Hey,” 

Tadashi’s throat dried up.  _ Had they always been sitting that close? _

Stammering, he opened his mouth to speak - and promptly forgot what he was going to say. How could he remember, when Tsukki was right  _ there _ , looking like  _ that _ ? He could already feel more blossoms popping up on his cheeks, until his entire face felt like he had jumped headfirst into a flower basket. 

“Peonies,” Tsukki said suddenly. 

Tadashi furrowed his brows. “Huh?” he said again. (Man, if someone didn’t stop him, he was really going to seduce this boy with nothing but his intelligence.) 

Tsukki moved closer to him, and Tadashi felt like he might explode any second. His breath was misting up the other’s glasses as he held out a hand just shy of the Tadashi’s face, lightly brushing against the flowers blooming there. 

“Peonies,” he repeated. “They’re always peonies.” 

Then he leaned in and kissed him and this time, Tadashi really did explode. 

**Author's Note:**

> WOOO thank u for reading!! i'm super proud of this fic :] come talk to me on [twt](https://twitter.com/transgiyuu)!
> 
> also!! if u want to see the perseids too, then the best time to see them is the night of august 12-13. they're one of the brightest meteor showers of the year and the easiest to view! this year's gonna be a bit hard bc of the full moon, but u can still spot a good amount of 10-15 meteors every hour. (ps: if u don't have a tsukki whos gonna take u to the countryside just to stargaze, this [guide](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-to-stargaze-in-cities.html) is pretty helpful!)


End file.
